The Beach
I don’t mean to make you jealous, but my husband and I have enjoyed several trips to the beach in the last month. It’s hard to imagine the cold and snow when you are in Florida. We are very fortunate to be able to live with our son and daughter-in-law during three months of wintertime.
There are many therapeutic things about being at the ocean. I love the feeling of the sand between my toes on a warm day. The grains of sand remind me of God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the grains of sand on the shore. You and I could never count them, but God can. And His promise has been fulfilled. Many rulers have tried to wipe out the Jewish race, but God has protected them. And now those who believe in Jesus have become children of Abraham also. (Galatians 3:29: “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”)
Another thing I enjoy is picking up shells. I have done this many times over the years. And I marvel each time that these beautiful creations are one of a kind. Just like all of God’s creatures, each is unique and beautiful in its own way. I have a vase of multi-colored shells that I enjoy looking at every day. This one will stay in Florida, but another one will go home with me to Kansas. I never tire of looking at them.
The sound of the ocean is a reminder of God’s presence. The soft shhh…shh…shh…is always constant, like the pulsing of God’s spirit within me. Always there. Always moving. Always gentle yet powerful. Are you listening to Him? Or has the noise of this world drowned out His voice?
What things do you enjoy from nature that remind you of our great God? You may not be at the ocean, but you are somewhere. And God is everywhere. Have you taken time to be aware of His presence today? Is He reminding you of something special?
I enjoyed your blog on Feb 18. We live in cold Iowa. Had a little snow today, but it covers the dirt. I still write a weekly column in the Farmers Press in North Dakota. I have been writing a column for 36 years now. I have written in 6 different small town papers
I have been reading your blogs and printed up your song , I will greet the day. Marian and I still play our conerts
The shells at the beach just down the road from my little house on the hill, are usually small, broken due to seagull feasting.
Sometimes, I find unique ones. A new, young friend, a PhD student in Biology at the University of New Mexico, from India, looked st shells in my china bucket last summer and noticed one small whelk was different from the others-it ‘faced’ left instead of right as the others did. Her observation intrigued me. Her husband works in RI, she misses him, they met when he was in a MA program at the same university.